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Quickstart: Create a function in Azure with Python using Visual Studio Code

• Article
• 08/24/2022
• 7 minutes to read
• 8 contributors

Select your function language: Python

In this article, you use Visual Studio Code to create a Python function that responds to HTTP requests. After testing the code locally, you deploy it to the serverless environment of Azure Functions.

Completing this quickstart incurs a small cost of a few USD cents or less in your Azure account.

There’s also a CLI-based version of this article.

Configure your environment

Before you begin, make sure that you have the following requirements in place:

• An Azure account with an active subscription. Create an account for free.
• The Azure Functions Core Tools version 3.x.
• Python versions that are supported by Azure Functions. For more information, see How to install Python.
• Visual Studio Code on one of the supported platforms.
• The Python extension for Visual Studio Code.
• The Azure Functions extension for Visual Studio Code.

Create your local project

In this section, you use Visual Studio Code to create a local Azure Functions project in Python. Later in this article, you’ll publish your function code to Azure.

1. Choose the Azure icon in the Activity bar. Then in the Workspace (local) area, select the + button, choose Create Function in the dropdown. When prompted, choose Create new project.
2. Choose the directory location for your project workspace and choose Select. You should either create a new folder or choose an empty folder for the project workspace. Don’t choose a project folder that is already part of a workspace.
3. Provide the following information at the prompts:PromptSelectionSelect a languageChoose Python.Select a Python interpreter to create a virtual environmentChoose your preferred Python interpreter. If an option isn’t shown, type in the full path to your Python binary.Select a template for your project’s first functionChoose HTTP trigger.Provide a function nameEnter HttpExample.Authorization levelChoose Anonymous, which lets anyone call your function endpoint. For more information about the authorization level, see Authorization keys.Select how you would like to open your projectChoose Add to workspace.
4. Visual Studio Code uses the provided information and generates an Azure Functions project with an HTTP trigger. You can view the local project files in the Explorer. For more information about the files that are created, see Generated project files.

Run the function locally

Visual Studio Code integrates with Azure Functions Core tools to let you run this project on your local development computer before you publish to Azure.

1. To start the function locally, press F5 or the play icon. The Terminal panel displays the Output from Core Tools. Your app starts in the Terminal panel. You can see the URL endpoint of your HTTP-triggered function running locally.If you have trouble running on Windows, make sure that the default terminal for Visual Studio Code isn’t set to WSL Bash.
2. With Core Tools still running in Terminal, choose the Azure icon in the activity bar. In the Workspace area, expand Local Project > Functions. Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl - click (macOS) the HttpExample function and choose Execute Function Now….
3. In Enter request body you see the request message body value of { "name": "Azure" }. Press Enter to send this request message to your function.
4. When the function executes locally and returns a response, a notification is raised in Visual Studio Code. Information about the function execution is shown in Terminal panel.
5. With the Terminal panel focused, press Ctrl + C to stop Core Tools and disconnect the debugger.

After you’ve verified that the function runs correctly on your local computer, it’s time to use Visual Studio Code to publish the project directly to Azure.

Sign in to Azure

Before you can publish your app, you must sign in to Azure.

1. If you aren’t already signed in, choose the Azure icon in the Activity bar. Then in the Resources area, choose Sign in to Azure….If you’re already signed in and can see your existing subscriptions, go to the next section. If you don’t yet have an Azure account, choose Create and Azure Account…. Students can choose Create and Azure for Students Account….
2. When prompted in the browser, choose your Azure account and sign in using your Azure account credentials. If you create a new account, you can sign in after your account is created.
3. After you’ve successfully signed in, you can close the new browser window. The subscriptions that belong to your Azure account are displayed in the sidebar.

Create the function app in Azure

In this section, you create a function app and related resources in your Azure subscription.

1. Choose the Azure icon in the Activity bar. Then in the Resources area, select the + icon and choose the Create Function App in Azure option.
2. Provide the following information at the prompts:PromptSelectionSelect subscriptionChoose the subscription to use. You won’t see this prompt when you have only one subscription visible under Resources.Enter a globally unique name for the function appType a name that is valid in a URL path. The name you type is validated to make sure that it’s unique in Azure Functions.Select a runtime stackChoose the language version on which you’ve been running locally.Select a location for new resourcesFor better performance, choose a region near you.The extension shows the status of individual resources as they’re being created in Azure in the Azure: Activity Log panel.
3. When the creation is complete, the following Azure resources are created in your subscription. The resources are named based on your function app name:
   • A resource group, which is a logical container for related resources.
   • A standard Azure Storage account, which maintains state and other information about your projects.
   • A function app, which provides the environment for executing your function code. A function app lets you group functions as a logical unit for easier management, deployment, and sharing of resources within the same hosting plan.
   • An App Service plan, which defines the underlying host for your function app.
   • An Application Insights instance connected to the function app, which tracks usage of your functions in the app.
   A notification is displayed after your function app is created and the deployment package is applied. TipBy default, the Azure resources required by your function app are created based on the function app name you provide. By default, they’re also created in the same new resource group with the function app. If you want to either customize the names of these resources or reuse existing resources, you need to publish the project with advanced create options instead.

Deploy the project to Azure

 Important

Deploying to an existing function app always overwrites the contents of that app in Azure.

1. Choose the Azure icon in the Activity bar, then in the Workspace area, select your project folder and select the Deploy… button.
2. Select Deploy to Function App…, choose the function app you just created, and select Deploy.
3. After deployment completes, select View Output to view the creation and deployment results, including the Azure resources that you created. If you miss the notification, select the bell icon in the lower right corner to see it again.

Run the function in Azure

1. Back in the Resources area in the side bar, expand your subscription, your new function app, and Functions. Right-click (Windows) or Ctrl - click (macOS) the HttpExample function and choose Execute Function Now….
2. In Enter request body you see the request message body value of { "name": "Azure" }. Press Enter to send this request message to your function.
3. When the function executes in Azure and returns a response, a notification is raised in Visual Studio Code.

Clean up resources

When you continue to the next step and add an Azure Storage queue binding to your function, you’ll need to keep all your resources in place to build on what you’ve already done.

Otherwise, you can use the following steps to delete the function app and its related resources to avoid incurring any further costs.

1. In Visual Studio Code, press F1 to open the command palette. In the command palette, search for and select Azure: Open in portal.
2. Choose your function app and press Enter. The function app page opens in the Azure portal.
3. In the Overview tab, select the named link next to Resource group.
4. On the Resource group page, review the list of included resources, and verify that they’re the ones you want to delete.
5. In the Resource group page, review the list of included resources, and verify that they are the ones you want to delete.
6. Select Delete resource group, and follow the instructions.Deletion may take a couple of minutes. When it’s done, a notification appears for a few seconds. You can also select the bell icon at the top of the page to view the notification.

For more information about Functions costs, see Estimating Consumption plan costs.